I draw a line in the sand. It's called 1910?

Yes, take a deep breath, exhale, and relax for a minute because you did make it to the middle day of the week and it is Wednesday, September 29, 2010. Yesterday morning I arrived at work at my regular early time and looked up the temp and it was 50 degrees. Now that's what I call a down payment on better things to come. There have been some very quiet Texan fans since the Cowboys pretty much made mincemeat out of their team last Sunday. I can remember when I was among those who would have been in mourning. While I enjoy it in passing I no longer lose sleep over sporting events. Some of those we know who had posted such outlandish comments on Facebook before the game, they may still be in hiding for all I know. I heard one committed optimist call in on a sports radio program and talk about how this was a good loss for the Texans. They have gotten it out of the way, learned something about their weaknesses, and in the process they've done away with any cockiness that may have held them back later. Now there's a fellow who is looking on the bright side! He likely enjoys wearing those rose colored glasses. And, for the professional local commentator who predicted a 16 and 0 season for the Texans, well, if I were him I wouldn't be expecting any calls from Vegas to help them set the odds for the rest of the season. Many people paid $500 or more for a $50 ticket from scalpers and some even paid handsomely for what turned out to be fake tickets.That hype stuff leading up to a game sure works like magic because my guess is that many who felt compelled to get in at any price certainly could have used their money on something more productive for themselves and their families.

Then occasionally you run into someone and they plead ignorant to even knowing about the game. They hear you talking about it and ask who won. You tell them it was a big story. Obviously not to them. I heard one lady say the other day that she almost never watches television at all because she reads as much as she can every single day. She likes historically based novels but only those that date from the 1800's to 1910. She was very specific. She has no interest in anything written that covers the time period after 1910. I haven't had a chance to ask her about this. 1910? It sounds like a strange cut off date to me. I looked up 1910 and there's nothing that really leaps out at you. Henry Ford sold 10,000 automobiles that year. In May, Halley's Comet was visible from earth. It was also the year of the first aviation flight for the purpose of carrying commercial freight. It was also the year the Catholic Church established an oath against modernism which had to be sworn to by all levels of clergy. Maybe the dawn of modernism, whatever definition one supplies, is why she was intent on being emphatic. It just goes to show us that we all are different. Some tune in to what's happening and some choose to tune out. The other day I took this online Pew Foundation quiz on current political trivia and got all eleven questions answered correctly. I asked the ladies here in the office a few of them and they were clueless. Whose better off?

We are all different and strange in our own uniquely strange way. Oh, you don't have any quirks? I bet you do just like the rest of us. Why? Because you and I and everyone who has ever breathed air on the planet suffer from the exact same condition. It's called the human condition. I've had folks who sneer a little regarding my intelligence when they learn that I watch NASCAR. I may have done my own bit of sneering when I found out they had purchased one of those outlandishly expensive tickets to go out and watch their team embarrass themselves on the field. Different. You may feel good about paying $5 or more for one of those doctored up coffees from the specialty shop while I sit and feel slightly superior as I sip my extra strong hot and black home dripped brew. Different. You may be one of those who enjoy standing in line for four hours to join with 50,000 other folks to end up sitting 1/4 mile away from the country music star you love. That one just knocks me down. To think that anyone would go to a stadium and end up watching the act on a huge TV screen because they are too far away from them to actually see them is hard for me to grasp. On the other hand, they might wonder about me as I recently sat and enjoyed seeing a TV program featuring a full symphonic orchestra playing 1940's big band music. Different. However, within our differences we all end up in that same human condition which causes us to equally share a common need: that being a relationship with our Creator God. Once we respond and embrace Him through His provision of a Savior, we become one in Christ, brothers and sisters, as well as heirs of Almighty God. This does not erase our differences but our connectedness in Christ trumps all else. We are able to then love one another, accept one other, and work together to show forth the glory of our Great God! And we can even learn to endure the jabs that come our way, even from a grandchild when she asks, "Poppy, are those drivers still turning left?" Have a great day and may God bless one and all. Amen.              ......More later.